Technical Field
This disclosure relates to protecting data stored on a device based on the current context found at the device.
Description of Related Art
Device theft and data loss are the biggest security challenges for today's mobile platforms. There are several solutions available that allow a user to track their device's location (e.g., via “Find Phone,” etc.) and even remotely wipe sensitive data from the device (e.g., device management solutions, etc.) in the case where the device cannot be recovered. However, such approaches require the device to be accessible through the network. Unfortunately, it is common for dedicated or circumstantial device thieves to disconnect the device from the network before scrapping the data offline. Given a huge suite of tools and technologies available, both in software and hardware, for mobile forensics, a dedicated adversary would likely be able to obtain sensitive data from a device when faced with current data protection approaches.
Sensitive data could also be lost without the physical loss of device, for instance, via shoulder surfing, or due to temporary loss of control of the device. In such a scenario, the device stays online, however, the user might not be either aware of the data being leaked or the data might already be lost before any responsive action could be taken. While such leaks could be prevented owing to an intelligent human judgement on where and how to use the mobile device, one cannot rely on user's discretion alone as the user might not be aware of the risks posed by his/her environment.